Aeroplane.



E. L. RUSSELL. AER-oPLANE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. l9l3. RENEWED SEPT. 30,1915.

\ 3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

l mfy v TTOHIIIEVS .Patented Nov. 16, 191.5.

E. L. RUSSELL.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION m50 111AY20. 1913. nsnswsnssnso, 1915.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Wl/l/ESSES l I/VI/EA/TOR E. L. RUSSELL.

AEROPLANE. APPLlcAnoN FILED MAI/20,1913. RENEwEosEPLao. 1915.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- I/II/l TII/ E S858 ELMR L., BUSSELLLQF CLEVELAND, QKLAHMA.

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Application filed may" 20 13.913, Serial No, 768,700.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L linnen L. RUssELL, a' citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cleveland, in the county oi Pawnee and State of Oklahoma, have made certain new and useful improvements in Aleroplanes, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to improvements in aeroplanes and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object o-my invention is to provide `a device in which the elevating or lowering planes may be readily controlled.. t

A further object oi my invention 1s to provide a device in which the tendency to tip to the side is obviated by means of a novel arrangement of ailerons. v

A further object of my invention is to provide novel means for operating these ailerons.

@ther objects and advantages will appear in thel following specification and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part oi this application in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several. views and in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the device. Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device.

In carrying out my invention i provide a main frame consisting of the uprights 1., 2, 3', 4, 5, 6 and 7, the cross members such as those shown at 8 and the longitudinal members such as those shown t 99 10 and 11 in Figs. 1.y and 3. rihe device is also suitably braced by guy wires. Carried by theframe at the iront end thereof is a front elevating plane F which is pivoted on one ofthe cross members 8 as shown in Fig. 3. A plurality of sustaining planes S is arranged to extend between the uprights 3 and a (see Fig. 1). These planes S are arranged one above another. The rear edges of the planes are disposed below the front edges and the planes themseives are curved slightly as indicated in the drawing. The engine E is carried by the frame below the lowermost sustaining planes. iWhile l have shown four oi these sustaining planes., it will be understood that more or less may be used without departing from the Spirit of the invention..

Speeication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 11915.

Renewed. September 3o, 1915. Serial No. 53,4%.

Carried by shafts 12 are the propellers T and T. rlhese propellers are driven by sprocket chains 13 carried by a sprocket wheel 1d of the engine (see Fig. 2) and ar ranged to run over sprockets 15 on the shafts l2. The propellers are located im- `mediately behind the sustaining planes as shown in Fig. 1l and at the side of the frame as shown in Fig. 2.

' Hinged to one oi the rear cross members 8 is an elevating plane'l R. A. stationary horizontal plane Q is vdisposed, between'the side members 10 and the rear member 8 to which the plane R is hinged. The front edge of this stationary plane Q is cut away at its central portion q to provide room for a vertical rudder Vif which is hinged at 'w to one' oi. the cross members 8 as shown in Fig. 3. Four ailerons of the shape shown. in the drawings are secured to the uprights 8, `these ailerons being placed near the ,top and near the bottom oi the machine. lin Fig. 1 li have designated the top aileron as A and the bottom aileron which is beneath the aileron A is designated as A2; On the opposite side of the center of the machine are the upper and lower ailerons A3 and At respectively.

The pilots sentii/ is carried on the lower part of` the frame. A steering rod O is mounted on a universal bearing or pivot o. Une end ofthe steering -rod is connected with the elevating rod P by means of a rigid rod X, A. ilexible cord or cable 17 is connected to a swivel ring 17"v or other similar device on one end of the steering rod 0 andpasses around a pulley 18, thence rearwardly over a pulley 19 to the rear of the elevating plane R. A flexible cord or cable 20 is secured to a swivel ring 20X carried by the steering rod 0 on the opposite side of the universal pivot o and passes over a pulley 2i and thence around a pulley 22 at the rear of the device, being connected to the end of the plane R on the opposite side from the cord 417. llt will be apparent that when the wheel l of the steering rod is lowered a thrust will be transmitted to the rigid rod X thereby rotating the elevating plane P, so as to incline'its iront edge downwardly and the rear edge upwardly, while the rear edge of the plane R will be swung downwardly. The control of the machine as 'far' as vertical movement is concerned is thus effected by 'means of the steering rod.

SME

Hinged to the bottom portion of the device isa foot lever 23 which may be operated by the left foot of the a'viator, a similar foot lever 24 being provided forhthe right foot. As will be seen from Fig. 2 a cord 25 is secured to thefoot lever 23, passes around a pulley 26 on the lower portion of the frame, thence upwardly around a pulley 27 and is fastened to the upper aileron A. A similar cord 28 passes around a on the bottom of the frame, thence upwardly around a pulley 30 and is fastened to the aileron A3. The ailerons A and A3 are pivotally connected by a rigid rod 31. A cord 32 is connected with the foot lever 23 and thence passes backwardly and upwardly being connected to the lower aileron A4. A similar cord 33 is 'connectedto the foot lever 28 and passes backwardly and upwardly being connected to the aileron A2. The lower ailerons A2 and A? are pivotally connected by a rigid rod 34.

It will be `observed that when the foot lever 23 is pressed forwardly by the left foot the rear ends of the ailerons A and A3 will be swung to the right, (considering the position in which the aviator faces), while the rear parts of the lower ailerons A2 and A4. will be swung to the right. On the other hand if the .foot lever 24: is pressed forwardly the four ailerons will be swung in the opposite direction from that attained by pressing forwardly on the foot lever 23.

v The aviator has his feet on these foot pedals all the time, and as one foot pedal swings forward the other will necessarily swing back due to the fact that the rigid rod between the ailerons will transmit the movement of one foot lever to the other.

Referring now to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the steering rod O is provided with a cross bar W. To one end of this bar is secured Aa spring w which is fastened to a cord 35. The latter extends over a pulley `36 (see Fig. 2) thence rearwardly and downwardly and is connected to a cross bar 37 which is attached to the rear vertical rudder 1V. The opposite end of the cross bar W is connected to a spring @U2 whichis attached to a cord ,38' which passes upwardly over a pulley 39 thence downwardly and rearwardly and is secured to the opposite end of the cross arm 37. As has been before statedv the steering rod O vis mounted on a universal joint so as to permit the rotation of the rod around its own axis. By rotating the steering wheel K the vertical rudder W may be shifted to the right or to the left. The purpose of the springs 'w'y and wg is to prevent a movement of the rudder W when the steering post is being shifted around its pivot 0 pulley 29 `slight as compared with the movement of the rod at the points where the cords 17 and 420 are attached. The rotation of the rod,

however, is sufficient to cause one spring to be tightened and the other spring to give and-thereby cause the vertical rudder V to move in response to the movements of the wheel.

The device, as described above, may be readily manipulated so as tocause the downward or upward movements or the movement of the device to the right or to the left. The wheels 40 permit the device to be started easily from rest and to run along the ground when. descent is made thereby obviating danger of injury to the machine.

I claim 1. In an aeroplane, a main frame, a front and a rear elevating plane, a vertical rudder, a steering post, a universal bearing for pivotally mounting said steering post, swivels carried by said steering `post on opposite Sides of said universal bearing, a rigid connection between one of said swivels and said front elevating plane, fiexible connections between both of said' swivels and said rear elevating plane for operating the latter, a cross bar carriedby said steering post, cords secured to each side of said vertical rudder and extending forwardly, pulleys carried by the frame for receiving said last named cords, and a spring secured to each end of said cross arm andconnected at the opposite end with one of'said cords.

2. In an aeroplane, a main frame, a front and rear elevating plane, a vertical rudder, a steering post, a universal bearing for said steering post, swivels carried by said steering post on opposite sides of said universal bearing, a rigid connection between one of said swivels and said front elevating plane, flexible connections between both of said swivels and said rear elevating plane for operating the latter, a cross-bar carried by said steering post, cords secured to each side of said vertical rudder and extending forwardly, and means disposed between the ends of said cords and said cross-bar for permitting a pivoted movement of the steering rod in a vertical plane while the vertical rudder is stationary.

ELMER L. RUSSELL.

GEO. W. REYNOLDS. 

